Extreme Sailing Series - Intensity mounts on penultimate day + Video

On the penultimate day of Act 7 in the 2013 Extreme Sailing Series, there was a change of pace in Nice - where the big winds abated to be replaced with a much fresher breeze that played across the Bay of Angels, testing the teams' tactical aptitude. The battle on the water for the eight Extreme 40s was no less tense, with teams not only eyeing the Nice podium, but with a tactical eye on the overall Series results, with the pressure mounting to head to the season finale in Brazil in a strong position.

The Wave, Muscat showed there are very few chinks in their armour, adding two more race wins to their tally this week, showcasing their pedigree in both the light and stronger breeze. Skipper Leigh McMillan, who could be seen from the shore adopting his trademark stance standing up at the back of the boat throughout racing, was modest back on dock: 'It was really hard to adjust to the light conditions; we were struggling a little bit to get back into the light wind mode after two pretty exciting windy days. We were fighting hard all the time just to get everything to click into place. We've had three solid days so far but we just need to keep doing the same things and not think too much about the overall scores here. The bigger picture is to keep knocking away at the overall points for the season - which is what we'll keep doing tomorrow.'

If yesterday’s racing was physically demanding on the sailors, today’s was psychologically taxing, with eight races sailed in eight knots of breeze that gradually faded throughout the afternoon. It was all about finding a break on the start, getting off the line in clean air and having the pace to extend and avoid the congestion of the pack, which proved easier said than done for even the most experienced teams. Alinghi found themselves deep in the pack on numerous occasions, as a disgruntled Morgan Larson, helmsman for this Act, explained: 'It was really challenging - it was light air and bumpy waters. Reaching starts in those conditions are challenging because one boat gets ahead and then it becomes a procession and we just didn't execute. There is a bit of luck and skill involved and we didn't have either of those today.'

Red Bull Sailing Team continued their wave of momentum from yesterday with another three race wins and will head into tomorrow’s final showdown six points behind Alinghi in third. The Austrian team, helmed by double Olympic gold medalist Roman Hagara, have their eyes are on the bigger prize of the Series podium where the battle is raging, and they will be happy to see their biggest rivals in the 2013 season, SAP Extreme Sailing Team, a little further down the leaderboard in Nice, in sixth.

The Swiss light wind lake specialists on Realteam have struggled at times over the last two days in the bigger breeze, but today they had a new sense of momentum, including a win in race two which has put them well in the hunt of a podium place, just six points adrift of Red Bull Sailing Team.

Skipper Jerome Clerc, who has handed the tiller to Pierre Pennec in Nice elaborated: 'The conditions suited us today. It was easier for us in the lighter winds, yesterday was quite tough mainly because of the waves. We're much more used to the conditions we were racing in today so overall we were pretty happy with our performance.'

The newest teams competing at Act 7 Nice presented by Land Rover were able to teach the old guards some new tricks today - no mean feat for a team coming into a fleet of this calibre at this stage in the game. The support of the local crowds spurred the invitational team the first club by ALL4ONE to a string on top three finishes, while ChinaSpirit will head into the final days racing on a high after winning the final race of the day and their first since joining the Series at the UK leg in Cardiff six weeks ago. 'It feels really good (to win their first race), especially as it was the last race of the day!' said an ecstatic Phil Robertson back on the dock. 'We got better and better today - we're still figuring the boat out in the light and tricky conditions. Every day we get thrown new conditions so we are learning from race to race and changing the whole set up throughout the day so overall it was super positive to end the day on a high.'

It was a festival of sailing on the Mediterranean today, with two match racing GC32 catamarans and the windsurfers of the NeilPryde windsurf Racing Series adding to the high performance racing spectacle and providing a real show for the gathering crowds. The final battle of the Bay will play out tomorrow from 1400 local time with the final Act deciding races including the all-important double-pointer streamed live from 1600-1700 CEST.